Power management: Break out of the box or stay the same?

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Power management: Break out of the box or stay the same? [Copy link]

There is no doubt that in the past decade, power management semiconductors have reached the pinnacle of improvement in packaging and performance, whether integrated chips or discrete devices. Especially for battery-driven portable terminals, which are the most advanced power management technologies and the fastest market growth rate, engineers have done their best. However, on the other hand, the performance of electronic products is upgraded by leaps and bounds, and the slow-developing battery technology is still "incapable" of coping with those energy-hungry new functions.

In the short term, we cannot expect much breakthrough in battery technology. The only way to deal with it is to continue to tap the potential of "efficiency", and scientific design concepts will be the key to further success. In the face of many past "luxurious" power configuration designs, not only system designers need to reflect on themselves, but also upstream semiconductor suppliers. Christopher Ambarian, a senior analyst at market research firm iSuppli, pointed out that engineers need to reflect on whether past designs are truly in line with scientific principles from three aspects.

First, in traditional power management solutions dominated by analog technology , engineers are accustomed to defining the power supply of various parts of the system with "always-on mode" as the default attribute. This preconceived idea has invisibly caused energy waste; second, driven by the progress of product launch, engineers only focus on the realization of product functions, and fail to strive for excellence and truly enhance the product's endurance from the perspective of user experience; third, engineers lack a macro perspective when designing power management solutions, and often treat the symptoms rather than the root cause, rather than considering power design issues from a system perspective.

Subvert tradition and break stereotypes, starting from now. Driven by leading semiconductor manufacturers, a comprehensive and three-dimensional power management concept is gradually being introduced into power management design. In general, the so-called three-dimensional power management is to achieve a comprehensive and multi-level power management solution from the perspective of system design, with the concept of digital control and software implementation .

At present, semiconductor manufacturers including TI, Silicon Labs and Zilker Labs have launched or are about to launch corresponding products. Through simple pin connection, external resistor selection or on-board serial port of the device, the chip can be configured for various applications using the industry-standard power management bus command set (PMBus). This power management device that integrates the configurability, control and management functions of digital technology has surpassed the traditional pure analog solution in terms of efficiency.

The continuous innovation and breakthroughs of engineers have made the field of power management technology shine, and the semiconductor market, which has attracted more than 180 manufacturers to join, is also full of vitality. This special issue of power technology jointly launched by "International Electronics Business" and "Electronic Engineering Times" attempts to provide the latest technology and market information for engineers who are designing various system power supplies or purchasing personnel who need to understand the power management semiconductor market through the development trends of the two mutually restrictive levels of vertical technology and horizontal market.